Written Answers Thursday 21 December 2006

Scottish Executive

Communities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent closure of the Chirnsyde community initiative, what urgent steps it has taken to ensure that a replacement leisure facility is available for young people in the Milton area of Glasgow and to ensure that future warnings about young people’s safety being compromised by the actions of management committees are addressed effectively.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive understands that the Executive Committee of Glasgow City Council agreed to explore alternative arrangements for the delivery of community services by the Chirnsyde Initiative at their recent meeting on 8 December.

  The safety of all groups who use this, or any, community facility is of paramount importance. The Scottish Executive would expect the City Council to continue to consult with its community planning partners, including the police, to assess risk to any user on an on-going basis.

Culture

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29736 by Patricia Ferguson on 14 November 2006, what total costs have been incurred so far on establishing Creative Scotland and disbanding the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen and what the estimated future costs are, itemising any budget line over £5,000.

Patricia Ferguson: Costs so far have been £24,353, which was the cost of placing adverts in a number of newspapers and journals inviting applications for the post of chair of the joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

  No other costs have so far been incurred. I do expect, however, approximately £10,000 of further expenditure in this financial year. This is the expected maximum cost of a study into future occupational pension arrangements for the staff of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. This work is to be undertaken by the Government actuarial department, and it may in the event cost less than this. I have no other confirmed plans at present for expenditure.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) adults and (b) children were registered as NHS patients with dental practices in each year since 1996, broken down by (i) NHS board and (ii) parliamentary constituency.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of (a) adults and (b) children registered with NHS dental practices in each year, broken down by NHS board, has been published in the Scottish Dental Practice Board Annual Reports. Reports for years 2001-02 to 2005-06, showing registrations for 2002-06 can be found at the following website: http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sdpb/ . Copies of reports for years 1995-96 to 2000-01, showing registrations for 1996-2001, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 41297, 41298, 41299, 41300, 41301, 41302).

  The information requested is not available for parliamentary constituency.

Digital Technology

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address the broadband reach issue.

Nicol Stephen: We are today publishing findings from our work with independent consultants which examined the reach issue and potential solutions.

  We have implemented the largest UK broadband project of its kind with BT which has brought access to every Scottish community and 99% of households, putting us ahead of most of the world on coverage. We achieved this on time and also approximately £1.5 million within the total budget of £16.5 million. We will therefore now use this scope within our contract with BT to provide access to clusters which remain without coverage, where this is feasible. The first of these clusters will be announced by the end of March 2007.

  I am also announcing today an additional £3.5 million for additional activity to deliver broadband to those without coverage, giving a total further spend of £5 million. Delivery options are currently being developed and further details will be announced early in the new year. Implementation of solutions will follow during 2007-08.

  Copies of the reach report are available through the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41239).

Efficient Government

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any progress in identifying the cost of achieving the savings attributed to the Efficient Government initiative and whether it now has baseline outcome data to measure the impact that these savings have had on departmental performance.

Mr Tom McCabe: I am very pleased that the Audit Scotland report which issued on 19 December recognises the progress we have made in identifying costs and that the initiative is delivering efficiencies that would not otherwise have been achieved.

  I am also pleased that the report recognised that most projects have established robust baselines. As we have said before, developing better information systems is an on-going task on which we are working in conjunction with Audit Scotland and others.

Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been brought under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 in (a) Tayside and (b) Grampian.

Elish Angiolini QC: At 11 December 2006, the number of charges prosecuted under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 in Tayside was 25 and the number prosecuted in Grampian was 24.

  Notes:

  1. This information has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

External Relations

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29972 by Mr Tom McCabe on 4 December 2006, whether HM Treasury has had any input into the plans of Scottish ministers which contain the Executive’s strategies for stronger engagement with the USA and China.

Mr Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30415 on 20 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any meetings or correspondence with any ferry operators since January 2004 regarding a possible foot-passenger-only ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon and, if so, on what dates any such (a) meetings took place and (b) correspondence was exchanged.

Tavish Scott: No meeting has taken place since January 2004 to discuss a foot-passenger-only option.

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-30020 by Tavish Scott on 4 December 2006, on what dates since 30 September 2005 the "various written and oral exchanges" between the Executive and Western Ferries on matters relating to the Gourock to Dunoon ferry service took place.

Tavish Scott: The following table sets out further details of the various written and oral exchanges between the Executive and Western Ferries between 1 October 2005 and 30 November 2006.

  

Month
Written*
Oral
Meetings


October 2005
2
-
-


November 2005
3
1
-


December 2005
1
-
-


January 2006
-
1
-


February 2006
1
--
-


March 2006
4
-
-


April 2006
-
-
-


May 2006
6
1
1


June 2006
10
-
-


July 2006*
3
-
-


August 2006
60
2
-


September 2006
41
-
-


October 2006
27
1
1


November 2006
21
2
-



  Note: *Includes 79 separate tender queries received between August and November 2006.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) initial set up and (b) annual costs to (i) the Executive, (ii) local authorities, (iii) other public sector organisations or bodies and (iv) other individuals, organisations and bodies of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 were projected to be in the Financial Memorandum to the bill and what the actual (1) initial set up costs were and (2) annual costs have been in each year since the act came into force, in each category.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Financial Memorandum to the bill is available on the Scottish Parliament’s website. The only quantifiable costs arising from provisions in the bill relate to the operation of the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

  The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is responsible for funding the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Freight

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the construction of the proposed railhead for timber traffic at Barrhill in Ayrshire.

Tavish Scott: Freight Facilities Grant funding was awarded to this project in December 2005. The overall project is coming to the end of the detailed planning and design phase and construction is expected to commence on site in the spring of 2007.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on negotiating the capital costs and payment terms for the capital investment in the extension and upgrade of accident and emergency facilities at Hairmyres and Wishaw hospitals and whether these details will be made public when an agreement has been reached with the PFI contractor.

Lewis Macdonald: NHS Lanarkshire are in the early stages of the business case process which I asked them to pursue when I approved their proposals for the future direction of health services in Lanarkshire.

  Business cases, once approved by the department’s Capital Investment Group, will be made available in accordance with the Health Department’s policy on openness and the publication of business cases and in compliance with the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants to medical schools there have been in each year since 1997.

Nicol Stephen: The following table shows the number of applicants to Scottish medical schools for each year since 1997.

  

Year
Applicants to Scottish Medical Schools


1997
4,566


1998
4,735


1999
4,481


2000
3,566


2001
3,525


2002
3,741


2003
3,796


2004
4,686


2005
5,396



  Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

Housing

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it continues to support the policy of housing stock transfer and, if so, whether it will work with councils to develop alternative models for stock transfer in areas where ballots have rejected stock transfer proposals.

Malcolm Chisholm: Transfer remains a key option for councils to secure substantial new housing investment for the benefit of their tenants. If councils in areas where whole stock transfer has been rejected now wish to examine alternative models for transfer, we will consider their proposals.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is for encouraging new homes to be carbon-neutral.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Dr. Paul Stollard, Chief Executive of the Scottish Building Standards Agency (SBSA), to answer. His response is as follows:

  Revised building regulations that will come into effect in May 2007 include enhanced requirements for energy efficiency that will reduce carbon emissions from new dwellings by at least 40%, compared with 2002. Along with other significant measures, there will be a return to the highest levels of thermal insulation and the introduction of the best low-energy lighting in the UK. The SBSA is starting a review of the standards for 2009. We share the ambition of zero carbon and are commissioning research concerning further progress towards zero carbon dwellings.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is for encouraging existing homes to be carbon-neutral.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has a range of policies in place to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Scotland, tackling fuel poverty and contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions and the achievement of our climate change targets.

  We are committed to bring all social rented houses up to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS) by 2015. The Standard includes the achievement of an energy efficiency rating of National Home Energy Rating (NHER) 5 or Standard Assessment Procedure 50 (SAP). All social landlords will be expected to show that they have adequate insulation and efficient central heating systems in their stock by this date.

  Our fuel poverty programmes are also having a positive effect on the energy efficiency of Scottish homes. We estimate that in 2004-05 the central heating and warm deal programmes achieved a combined reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 48,020 tonnes. The introduction of Energy Performance Certificates alongside the Single Survey will rate the energy performance of homes and include practical tips for simple cost-effective home improvement measures. We are working closely with the UK Government in relation to the Energy Efficiency Commitment which requires energy supply companies to meet targets for assisting householders to take up energy efficiency measures. The Executive also provides direct funding of around £5 million to the Energy Saving Trust to promote energy efficiency in homes.

  Local authorities are required under the Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) to devise strategies and targets to achieve significant improvements in the energy efficiency of their housing stock across all tenures. All local authorities are required to produce progress reports covering improvements in energy efficiency and CO2 reductions. In 2007, the Executive will review and assess progress being made by local authorities towards meeting these targets.

Justice

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many victims of knife attacks have been (a) treated in accident and emergency departments and (b) admitted to hospital in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Routinely collected information on attendances at accident and emergency departments does not allow the identification of victims of knife attacks.

  Centrally held information on hospital admissions does not explicitly identify knife attack victims. However, table 1 identifies those patients admitted to hospital as an emergency after being assaulted by sharp objects.

  Table 1: Number of Patients1,2 Admitted as an Emergency to Hospital with a Diagnosis of Assault by a Sharp Object3; by NHS Board of Treatment and Discharged During the Years Ending 31 March 2002-064

  

 
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Scotland
1,589
1,867
1,455
1,378
1,170


Argyll and Clyde
203
202
212
197
164


Ayrshire and Arran
97
132
107
105
78


Borders
3
3
4
3
2


Dumfries and Galloway
16
9
14
6
7


Fife
33
28
33
37
21


Forth Valley
43
41
34
31
19


Grampian
70
69
59
43
53


Greater Glasgow
717
981
670
608
544


Highland
21
26
13
18
11


Lanarkshire
199
201
150
152
124


Lothian
141
130
113
118
110


Tayside
42
42
43
56
36


Island Boards
4
3
3
1
1



  Notes:

  1. The basic unit of analysis shown in the table is the number of patients. These are derived from linked records on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. The same patient may have several admissions to hospital in the course of a year or number of years. They will be counted once in each financial year.

  3. Up to six diagnoses (one principal, five secondary) are recorded on SMR01 returns. All six positions diagnoses have been used to identify assault by sharp object. The following external cause code from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Other Health Related Problems, tenth revision (ICD10): X99 Assault by sharp object.

  4. Data for financial year 2005-06 are considered to be around 99 percent complete.

  This Government made a commitment to review knife crime law and enforcement. Arising from this review were proposals for changes to the law set out in First Minister’s five point plan in November 2004. These have been taken forward through:

  Police etc. Act which came into force on 1 September and doubled the maximum sentence for carrying a knife to four years; increased to 18 the minimum age at which non-domestic knives may be bought, and removed current restrictions on police powers of arrest where a weapon is carried in public, and

  The Custodial Sentences and Weapons Bill introduced into Parliament on 3 October which restricts the sale of non-domestic knives through a licensing scheme and ban the general sale of swords (with the exemptions for legitimate religious, cultural and sporting purposes).

  The Executive has funded the roll-out across Scotland (from April 2006) of the Violence Reduction Unit to drive forward the Safer Scotland anti-violence campaign, including the knife amnesty. Enforcement on knife crime is a priority for the Violence Reduction Unit. The Executive provided the Violence Reduction Unit with £100,000 to purchase 1000 hand held metal detectors (May 2006).

  Over 12,500 weapons were surrendered through the knife amnesty during June 2006 with a further 1,000 weapons subsequently taken off the streets through the enforcement phase (ran for a 5 week period immediately after the amnesty).

  An education phase of the Safer Scotland campaign was launched on 24 August 2006 which seeks to highlight to schoolchildren the dangers of carrying a weapon. Lord Advocate also announced new guidelines for prosecutors in May that mean those carrying and using a knife are more likely to receive a very severe punishment.

Justice

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases involving driving without insurance proceeded in the (a) Arbroath, (b) Dundee and (c) Stonehaven procurator fiscal office in each of the last two years.

Elish Angiolini, QC: The numbers of charges for driving without insurance contrary to Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 reported to the procurators fiscal at Arbroath, Dundee and Stonehaven in the last two financial years and which resulted in criminal proceedings being instructed are shown in the following table.

  

Procurator Fiscal’s Office
2004-05
2005-06
Total


Arbroath
297
337
634


Dundee 
1,172
1,115
2,287


Stonehaven
131
148
279



  Notes:

  1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the most recent estimate is of the rate of recidivism amongst (a) child sex offenders, (b) other sex offenders, (c) violent crime offenders and (d) other classes of offender, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information on the two year reconviction rates of persons originally convicted for a sexual crime against a child, other sexual crime, violent crime and other types of crime in 2002-03 is given in the following table.

  The reconviction rates for persons originally convicted of a sexual crime against a child and other sexual crime are based on relatively small numbers of offenders.

  Persons released from a custodial sentence or given a non-custodial sentence in 2002-03:

  Percentage Reconvicted within Two Years by Index Crime2 and Police Force Area of Index Conviction1

  

Police Force Area by Index Crime2
Total Number (=100%)
Percentage Reconvicted within Two Years
Percentage with a Custodial Reconviction within two Years


Scotland3
44,848
45
15


Sexual crime against a child / children4
171
12
4


Other sexual crime5
289
20
6


Violent crime6
11,141
37
10


Other7
33,247
48
17


Northern
2,304
42
12


Sexual crime against a child / children4
14
7
7


Other sexual crime5
16
13
6


Violent crime6
619
39
11


Other7
1,655
44
13


Grampian
3,821
44
12


Sexual crime against a child / children4
18
6
0


Other sexual crime5
20
25
15


Violent crime6
1,102
35
7


Other7
2,681
48
15


Tayside
4,075
47
14


Sexual crime against a child / children4
20
30
15


Other sexual crime5
24
38
17


Violent crime6
1,018
40
10


Other7
3,013
50
15


Fife
2,247
45
14


Sexual crime against a child / children4
11
18
9


Other sexual crime5
24
8
0


Violent crime6
630
40
9


Other7
1,582
48
16


Lothian and Borders
6,760
41
14


Sexual crime against a child / children4
22
14
0


Other sexual crime5
64
17
5


Violent crime6
1,831
33
9


Other7
4,843
44
16


Central
2,582
51
16


Sexual crime against a child / children4
5
20
0


Other sexual crime5
15
7
0


Violent crime6
649
41
10


Other7
1,913
54
18


Strathclyde
21,774
46
16


Sexual crime against a child / children4
73
7
1


Other sexual crime5
123
23
6


Violent crime6
4,956
37
12


Other7
16,622
49
18


Dumfries and Galloway
1,284
46
17


Sexual crime against a child / children
8
13
0


Other sexual crime
3
0
0


Violent crime
336
42
10


Other 
937
48
20



  Notes:

  1. For each offender in the 2002-03 cohort, their index conviction is defined to be the conviction which resulted in a non-custodial sentence being imposed or the one which originally led to a custodial sentence being served.

  2. An offender’s index crime is the main offence for their index conviction.

  3. Includes one person for whom the police force was recorded as missing.

  4. Includes sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13, sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16, person causing the seduction of a girl in their custody or care; grooming children for the specific purposes of sexual offences, procuration of sexual services from children under 18, procuration of children under 18 for pornography and lewd and libidinous practices involving a child victim.

  5. Includes rape, attempted rape, indecent assault, lewd and libidinous practices (not involving a child victim), other indecency and breach of a sex offender order. Excludes prostitution offences.

  6. Includes murder, culpable homicide, attempted murder, serious assault, robbery, simple assault and other violence.

  7. Includes criminal damage, drugs offences, breach of the peace, crimes against public justice, handling offensive weapons, miscellaneous firearm offences, prostitution offences and other crimes and offences not elsewhere specified. Excludes motor vehicle offences and some relatively minor miscellaneous statutory and common law offences.

Ministerial Correspondence

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what top six subjects were raised by individual members of the public with the Minister and Deputy Minister for Communities, as measured by volume of written correspondence, in the last 12 months.

Ms Margaret Curran: The top six subjects between 15 November 2005 and 14 November 2006 were:

  1. Land use planning - casework (448)

  2. Central Heating Programme and Warm Deal (284)

  3. Ahmed Family campaign (241)

  4. Housing Association Activities (129)

  5. Planning Bill (107)

  6. Asylum Seekers and refugees (84).

Ministerial Correspondence

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what top six subjects were raised by individual members of the public with the Minister and Deputy Minister for Justice, as measured by volume of written correspondence, in the last 12 months.

Ms Margaret Curran: The top six subjects raised were sentencing; family law; the Scottish Fingerprint Service; complaints against the police; antisocial behaviour, and the review of the law on knives.

Ministerial Visits

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions Scottish ministers have travelled abroad on ministerial business; what the duration, purpose and cost was of each visit, and what the size was of each ministerial entourage that travelled with each minister.

Mr Tom McCabe: I apologise for the excessive delay in responding to this question. The information in the tables is complex and detailed. It covers the full range of overseas visits including routine official visits to Brussels back to 1999, covering a great number of people, many of whom are no longer in post. It has also been checked carefully for accuracy.

  It is important for ministers to travel overseas to engage with other parts of the world and to promote Scotland as a place to visit, to live, work and study as well as do business. Ministers only travel overseas after the First Minister has given his approval.

  I have placed tables showing the information requested from 1999 up to the end of financial year 2005-06 in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41207). The information is also being published on the Scottish Executive website.

  The cost given for each visit includes ministers’ flight, accommodation and other expenses.

  Engagements marked * were at zero cost to the Executive; the costs of members’ attendance at Committee of the Regions meetings are paid for by the Committee of the Regions.

  Before any overseas engagement is approved, it must represent good value for the Executive and the taxpayer.

National Parks

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the total costs will be of the consultation on the establishment of a coastal and marine national park and whether it will provide a breakdown of these costs, also showing the time that (a) civil servants and (b) others have spent, or will spend, on the consultation process.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the method of calculating the cost of civil service time spent on the consultation on the establishment of a coastal and marine national park is the same as that for calculating the cost of answering parliamentary questions and, if not, whether it will explain the methodological differences.

Ross Finnie: The total estimated cost of the current consultation exercise on proposals to establish Scotland’s first Coastal and Marine National Park, which seeks views on a number of issues including ten candidate locations, is £220,000. These estimated costs would be chargeable to the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department Programme budget.

  The estimated costs include around £85,000 covering the design and production of a range of materials including the consultation document, summary leaflet, DVD, website material and other information as well as distribution costs to an extensive list of individuals and organisations. The remainder includes the estimated costs relating to the vehicle roadshows that visited all 10 candidate locations to offer communities more information about the proposals as well as a series of meetings with stakeholders to hear further views on the proposals and also includes the estimated costs of additional roadshow visits requested by members of the public and stakeholders.

  A breakdown showing time that civil servants and others have spent or will spend in supporting the consultation process is unavailable.

Parking Charges

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it issues any guidance to local authorities on levying parking charges.

Tavish Scott: No. Local authorities have powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to make, and vary, Traffic Regulation Orders specifying parking charges at designated parking places throughout their local authority area. The parking charge tariffs set by individual local authorities are therefore a matter for themselves in the context of traffic restraint measures within their wider transport policies and strategies.

Parliamentary Questions

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to my question S2W-25316 which was due for answer on 5 May 2006.

Mr Tom McCabe: I replied to the question on 21 December 2006.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Police

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any representations from, or on behalf of, police forces regarding the level of freedom of information requests received and the costs incurred.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Freedom of Information Implementation Group includes representation from the police forces. During 2005, members of the group provided indicative information on the numbers of requests received by their respective sectors. This information is provided as an annex to the minutes from the meetings of the group which are published on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/18022/11344 .

  One of the questions in the public consultation on Freedom of Information was "Do you have any evidence of the resource implications/general impact of FOISA on your Organisation?" A response to the consultation, including this question, was received from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

  The responses to the consultation are available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/05/11085226/0.

Police

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have been employed in each police force area in each year since 1980.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is shown in the following tables.

  Police Officer Numbers

  

At 31 December
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986


Central
512
516
529
538
542
550
549


Dumfries and Galloway
308
307
310
313
310
330
338


Fife
655
645
650
647
654
670
725


Grampian
928
941
937
948
962
970
995


Lothian and Borders
2,398
2,388
2,393
2,396
2,387
2,394
2,442


Northern
608
599
596
589
611
606
610


Strathclyde
6,882
6,845
6,833
6,816
6,792
6,816
6,769


Tayside
970
953
964
961
967
968
1,000


Total
13,261
13,194
13,212
13,208
13,225
13,304
13,428



  

At 31 December
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993


Central
571
599
619
641
636
649
657


Dumfries and Galloway
348
347
348
357
370
387
386


Fife
741
751
754
753
775
786
786


Grampian
1,017
1,028
1,084
1,138
1.150
1,194
1,193


Lothian and Borders
2,414
2,397
2,486
2,463
2,522
2,561
2,558


Northern
607
615
625
632
633
636
658


Strathclyde
6,773
6,768
6,887
6,804
6,790
6,797
6,823


Tayside
1,005
1,013
1,011
1,053
1,047
1,084
1,078


Total
13,476
13,518
13,814
13,841
13,923
14,094
14,139



  

At 31 December then from 1996 at 30 September
  1994
  1995
  1996
  1997
  1998
  1999
  2000


Central
654
656
657
686
703
719
721


Dumfries and Galloway
390
391
390
412
439
437
451


Fife
789
789
790
831
855
846
837


Grampian
1,191
1,194
1,172
1,173
1,193
1,249
1,215


Lothian and Borders
2,556
2,539
2,534
2,691
2,691
2,615
2,584


Northern
643
649
640
649
657
660
653


Strathclyde
7,003
7,014
7,216
7,231
7,299
7,135
7,101


Tayside
1,087
1,091
1,113
1,116
1,143
1,149
1,137


Total
14,313
14,323
14,512
14,789
14,980
14,810
14,699



  Police Numbers

  

As at 30 September
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


Central
719
732
745
777
830
865


Dumfries and Galloway
474
478
481
474
477
500


Fife
883
917
945
988
1,001
1,036


Grampian
1,274
1,271
1,280
1,358
1,371
1,408


Lothian and Borders
2,646
2,708
2,708
2,771
2,808
2,791


Northern
679
696
671
692
709
716


Strathclyde
7,298
7,349
7,404
7,527
7,703
7,770


Tayside
1,164
1,173
1,151
1,154
1,164
1,175


Total
15,137
15,324
15,385
15,741
16,063
16,261



  Source: Strength Returns from forces.

  Note: Numbers shown as headcount to 1999 then from September 2000 whole-time equivalent.

Post Offices

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what most recent representations it has made to the UK Government regarding the future of the rural post office network.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive has made regular representations to the UK Government on this matter.

Poverty

Gordon Jackson (Glasgow Govan) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the additional funding announced for local authorities will alleviate the financial burden of people in most need.

Mr Tom McCabe: The additional funding package worth over £250 million for local authorities was announced on 13 December. Local government services benefit the entire community. However, their record has shown that they focus on those most in need and I expect this to continue.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to conclude negotiations with prison staff over pay increases, in light of additional pressure on staff resulting from overcrowding in prisons and a 1995 agreement to complete negotiations by the end of October every year.

Cathy Jamieson: Pay negotiations for prison staff are the responsibility of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). I am advised by SPS that they will undertake them as a top priority once a pay negotiating remit has been given.

Prison Service

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest position is in respect of the future of HM Prison Low Moss.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29452 on 15 November 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what communications it has had with the staff of HM Prison Low Moss and their representatives in respect of the future of the prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The plan to re-develop the site of HM Prison Low Moss Prison is currently the subject of a Planning Appeal. The Governor and members of the SPS Board have briefed staff on several occasions, and provided written briefings to all staff. This will continue as needed. Trade Union Partners are represented at each level of the management process. There remains some uncertainty until the outcome of the planning appeal is known.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider bringing the post of Police Complaints Commissioner within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Cathy Jamieson: We currently have no plans to consider changing the arrangements for the appointment of the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland (PCCS).

Public Private Partnerships

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its policy on PFI projects, in light of the findings by Edinburgh University’s Centre for International Public Health that payments from NHS boards across Scotland to private financiers will increase from the current £107 million to £510 million per year by 2011.

Mr Tom McCabe: Public Private Partnerships are an important part of the Executive’s mixed economy approach to the modernisation and investment agenda to grow the Scottish economy and provide better public services.

  Payments by public bodies to private sector PPP consortia are for services provided over the length of the contract - these include capital construction, lifecycle maintenance and facilities management, and not just the upfront construction cost of the asset. I do not recognise the £510 million figure to which you refer.

Public Transport

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many local bus passenger journeys there have been in each of the last five years in (a) Dundee, (b) Angus and (c) Aberdeenshire.

Tavish Scott: Bus patronage figures are only available at national and regional level. This information is included in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin, Transport Series, Bus and Coach Statistics: 2004-05 which can be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/20144624/0.

Public Transport

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many passenger bus journeys there have been in the East Kilbride constituency in each year since 1986.

Tavish Scott: Bus patronage figures are only available at national and regional level. This information, for the last 10 years, is included in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin, Transport Series, Bus and Coach Statistics: 2004-05 which can be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/20144624/0. Figures for some earlier years are available in the equivalent tables in some earlier editions, which can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Transport-Travel/PubBusCoach.

Rail Network

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the 10 most overcrowded train services were in each of the last six months.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive does not hold information in this format.

  Surveys which measure overcrowding are conducted annually.

  A trial of equipment which measures passenger numbers on trains automatically is underway. If successful, this will allow continuous monitoring of trains to identify overcrowding and the technique could replace annual surveys.

Road Accidents

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) serious accidents and (b) fatalities have there been on the stretch of the A77/M77 between (i) Glasgow and Kilmarnock, (ii) Kilmarnock and Ayr, (iii) Ayr and Maybole and (iv) Maybole and Stranraer in each year since 1999.

Tavish Scott: The number of fatal and serious road accidents recorded on the A77 in each year since 1999, broken down by stretch of road is as follows:

  (i) Glasgow to Kilmarnock

  

Year
Serious Accidents 
Fatal Accidents
Fatalities


1999
0
0
0


2000
1
1
1


2001
0
0
0


2002
2
0
0


2003
3
1
1


2004
1
0
0


2005
3
0
0


Total
10
2
2



  (ii) Kilmarnock to Ayr

  

Year
Serious Accidents
Fatal Accidents
Fatalities


1999
5
0
0


2000
3
1
1


2001
3
1
3


2002
4
0
0


2003
6
0
0


2004
3
0
0


2005
9
0
0


Total
33
2
4



  (iii) Ayr to Maybole

  

Year
Serious Accidents
Fatal Accidents
Fatalities


1999
8
1
1


2000
6
0
0


2001
1
0
0


2002
6
0
0


2003
4
1
1


2004
0
2
3


2005
2
1
1


Total
27
5
6



  (iv) Maybole to Stranraer

  

Year
Serious Accidents
Fatal Accidents
Fatalities


1999
9
1
1


2000
10
2
2


2001
10
0
0


2002
11
3
3


2003
5
3
6


2004
8
2
2


2005
5
0
0


Total
58
11
14



  The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, e.g. due to late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted for more information if required.

Road Accidents

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents there were on the A71 in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005 in each local authority area and how many (i) fatalities and (ii) serious injuries there were in each case.

Tavish Scott: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. The returns do not cover "damage only" accidents or accidents of which the police are unaware because they were not reported by the public.

  The following table gives the numbers of road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring on the A71 in 2004 and 2005 and the associated fatalities and serious casualties. The information is broken down by local authority area.

  It should be noted that the statistics given are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authorities would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  Injury road accidents occurring on the A71, and the associated numbers of fatalities and seriously-injured casualties, as reported in the STATS 19 statistical returns.

  

Local Authority
Year
Injury Road Accidents
Fatalities
Seriously-Injured Casualties


Edinburgh
2004
64
0
8


 
2005
43
0
2


West Lothian
2004
29
1
13


 
2005
24
0
5


North Lanarkshire
2004
18
0
4


 
2005
13
0
1


South Lanarkshire
2004
27
1
8


 
2005
27
2
6


East Ayrshire
2004
28
2
6


 
2005
25
0
5


North Ayrshire
2004
11
0
0


 
2005
12
1
0

Road Safety

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve safety on trunk roads.

Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland monitors the trunk road network annually to identify accident cluster sites and implements an annual programme of road safety improvements as well as a number of larger schemes, most of which bring road safety benefits.

  In addition we support Road Safety Scotland in their on-going campaigns.

Schools

Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the provision of new public private partnership schools will have on young people in the Western Isles.

Hugh Henry: New school facilities in the Western Isles will, as elsewhere, create a modern learning and teaching environment in which young people will get the very best opportunity to realise their full potential.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29649 by Elish Angiolini QC on 21 November 2006, whether the bar on further proceedings relates only to the Shirley McKie case; whether the names of those experts who cannot now be prosecuted can be provided, and on what date and in what manner these experts were informed that they could no longer be prosecuted.

Elish Angiolini QC: A public announcement was made on 7 September 2001, confirming that no proceedings were to be taken against officers of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) following allegations of criminal conduct which had been made against them. The officers in question were Hugh MacPherson, Fiona McBride, Charles Stewart and Anthony McKenna and the criminal allegations related to the fingerprint evidence in the Asbury and McKie cases.

  On that basis, the Crown could not now raise criminal proceedings against any of those officers if the proceedings related to the same subject matter.

  In September and October 2001, the legal representatives of SCRO officers were also informed of the decision either by letter or telephone, as were the Association of Chief Police Officers and the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland.

  Legal representatives for two further SCRO employees, Mr McKenzie and Mr Dunbar, were also advised that no proceedings would be taken against their clients in relation to the fingerprint evidence in the Asbury and McKie cases.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29649 by Elish Angiolini QC on 21 November 2006, whether any inquiries have been carried out into either alleged or actual misidentification of fingerprint evidence by the Scottish Criminal Record Office in relation to any crime in the Kilmarnock area, other than in relation to any current proceedings, within the last 20 years and, if so, when and to whom they were reported and what recommendations were made.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29649 by Elish Angiolini QC on 21 November 2006, whether there are any inquiries currently under way into either alleged or actual misidentification of fingerprint evidence by the Scottish Criminal Record Office in relation to any crime in the Kilmarnock area and, if so, how many.

Elish Angiolini QC: In 2003, inquiries were carried out into the fingerprint evidence provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) in the case against Mark Sinclair, which arose in the Kilmarnock area. The Crown did not use the fingerprint evidence provided by SCRO on that occasion.

  In 2006, the fingerprint evidence provided by SCRO in the Sinclair case was passed to the Police Service of Northern Ireland for further consideration, and that process is on-going.

  I am not aware of any similar enquiries either on-going or having been carried out in the past 20 years in relation to any crime in the Kilmarnock area.

Social Work

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for the implementation of the Changing Lives social work review.

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding for the implementation of the Changing Lives social work review has been allocated to each local authority, showing the purpose for which each amount has been paid.

Hugh Henry: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30356 on 18 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Sport

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to community sports initiatives, such as the Fife Soccer Sevens Development Association.

Patricia Ferguson: All Executive funding for sport is routed through sportscotland who operate a number of funding programmes specifically for local community organisations. Decisions on which applications are successful are a matter for the board of sportscotland.

Sport

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available for Scottish members of the Special Olympics team.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive does not directly fund members of the Special Olympics Team.

  Sportscotland can provide funding for athletes, including members of the Special Olympics Team and further information on a variety of sources of funding for athletes is available at:

  http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/SiteNavigation/Funding/

Sport

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with sportscotland, the National Lottery and other agencies regarding the provision of funding for Special Olympic athletes.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive has not held discussions on the provision of funding for Scottish members of the Special Olympics team.

  Sportscotland does not provide direct funding for Scottish members of the Special Olympics team. Further information on alternative sources of funding for athletes from sportscotland and other organisations is available at http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/SiteNavigation/Funding/.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received representations from any of the local authorities that have been allocated funding under the National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy for additional financial support to ensure that the facility is developed and, if so, which local authorities have requested additional funding, and how much they have requested.

Patricia Ferguson: Ten projects were allocated funding in response to their Stage 1 application. However, this is not a funding decision but an in principle allocation. A funding decision is made in response to a Local Authority’s Stage 2 application and thus far two projects have been awarded funding at Stage 2: Glasgow City Council for their Toryglen project and Aberdeen City Council for their Chris Anderson Stadium project.

  Sportscotland has been working with each local authority allocated funding at Stage 1 to develop a Stage 2.

Statistics

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to refer Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland to the independent board to be created to enhance confidence in government statistics, as announced in the Queen’s Speech.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has no current plans to refer Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland to the independent statistics board. However, Government Expenditure and Revenue will fall within the remit of the board and will be subject to scrutiny along with other National Statistics.

Transport

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any European regulations that would prevent multiple interventions, such as both a public service obligation and aid of a social character, being applied on any one transport route.

Tavish Scott: There are no European Community Regulations preventing multiple interventions in respect of the same transport route, such as both a public service obligation which is funded and an aid of a social character. However, Article 87(2)(a) of the EC Treaty states that "aid having a social character, granted to individual consumers, shall be compatible with the common market provided that such aid is granted without discrimination related to the origin of the products concerned".

  In the case of an air route on which a Public Service Obligation has been imposed, and which is receiving funding, only one airline has the right to provide a service. Therefore the policy and practice of the European Commission is not to permit the combining of these two types of public funding in respect of the same transport services.